Logical reasoning PrepTest 112 · Section 4 · Question 2

Question prompt

The current theory about Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Valid

Question Type

Main Point Questions

Stimulus Summary

Current theory: Something about earthquakes
Opinion on it: It’s plausible, but it’s incomplete
What it’s missing: Where’s the heat?

Answer Anticipation

Main Point questions are all about timing - how can we get through these questions as quickly as possible without sacrificing accuracy? Doing so requires having a lot of knowledge of argument structure and how they generally proceed.
Here, the argument starts with a current theory. Arguments that start with a current theory will quite frequently pivot away from it, and the Author’s opinion of that theory serves as the main point.
Here, after introducing the theory, we do get the author’s opinion of it - while it seems plausible, it leaves at least one mystery open. In other words, it’s at best incomplete. The rest of the stimulus raises what mystery is open, supporting this view and reinforcing it as the main point.
Let’s find an answer that reflects the Author believes the current earthquake theory is plausible but incomplete.

Answer choices

  1. A
    No increases in temperature Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This is a fact that the Author uses to reinforce the incomplete nature of the current theory.
  2. B
    The current theory does Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer reflects the Author’s view that the current theory leaves at least one mystery open - so it therefore doesn’t fully explain the data (the lack of a temperature increase).
  3. C
    No one will ever Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    This answer is too extreme. The Author believes the current theory is incomplete, but that doesn’t mean she believes it’s hopeless that we’ll ever be able to come up with a complete theory.
  4. D
    Earthquakes produce enormous amounts Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The Author establishes that the plates sliding past each other should create enormous amounts of heat, but that hasn’t been detected. One possibility is that such heat isn’t generated, not that it hasn’t been detected.
  5. E
    Contrary to the current Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    This answer goes a step too far. The Author believes the current theory is incomplete, but that doesn’t mean she believes that it’s wrong, as this answer states.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 10%
  2. B Credited 79%
  3. C 1%
  4. D 6%
  5. E 3%

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